Appeasement Policy- Failure

Appeasement was the policy adopted by the British and French prime ministers in 1930s towards Germany. The aim of which was to settle international quarrels by satisfying Germany’s grievances, thereby avoid the resort to war which in other words, maintain peace. There are several reasons to why the appeasement policy was adopted. Such as, Britain and France were both suffering from economic depression and thus felt that they could not afford to spend a large expenditure on arms to combat Germany.Besides, there was a feeling that the treaty of Versailles was too harsh towards Germany and it was reasonable to reduce the policies. The appeasement policy was based on the idea that what Hitler wanted was reasonable and when his reasonable demands had been satisfied, he would stop. However it gave Hitler the confidence to demand more land, such as taking over Czechoslovakia, another step towards the Greater Germany. Later on Hitler demanded the Polish Corridor and Danzig in August 1 939, which eventually resulted in war.The appeasement policy fueled Hitler's actions to further devalue the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler broke the treaty of Versailles by sending troops to Rhineland, in addition to that Germany united with Austria which was originally banned in the Treaty of Versailles. At the same time, Germany gained time to build up their armed force and gain more military power. The policy aggravated Hitler’s ambitions and aggressions; he decided that Britain and France were unlikely ever to oppose him by force. Germany attacked Poland which at last led to WWII.If France and Britain had stood up to Germany then Hitler would not have been so bold in what he was doing. If they did not adopt the appeasement policy, they might be able to force him to back down without a fight or defeated Germany in a much shorter, less destructive war. Instead they kept giving Hitler what he wanted, hoping to appease him, which ended up Germany getting stronger and stronger u ntil defeating her required a catastrophic war. In conclusion, the appeasement policy was not effective in maintaining peace; instead it aggravated Hitler’s confidence and aggression which in the end led to WWII.

Relationship Between the Criminal Justice System and Mental Illness

With nearly 300,000 mentally ill individuals housed within local, state, and federal prison systems, issues of mental health care within the criminal justice system are at the forefront of debate. While steps such as increasing medications and providing at least marginal support for the mentally ill within state institutions are improving the situation, recidivism rates, homelessness, and violence against ill prison inmates is still a major problem in today's society. The product of deinstitutionalization, this problem of warehousing the ill within the criminal justice system must be attended to in order to create an atmosphere of care for the mentally ill. By altering legislation against involuntary assistance, increasing knowledge and awareness through the criminal justice system, and an increase in community care following release, the criminal justice system can create a cost effective solution to the problem of untreated mental illness within the system. The Relationship between the Criminal Justice System The relationship between mental illness and the criminal justice system has been one of intense scrutiny over the past several decades. Issues such as treatment options within state and federal prison systems, behavioral consequences of mental illness, and length of stay issues have all been deliberated intently by the psychiatric and legal community. These studies have indicated that severe problems exist within the system in terms of the care mentally ill individuals receive while incarcerated. This paper will focus on the issues of the mentally ill prison inmate, and will review current literature which suggests that although steps are being taken to solve some of these issues, more work must be undertaken to solve the problem of mental illness within the criminal justice system. In the correctional system today, there are nearly 300,000 mentally ill individuals, as compared to only 60,000 currently residing in state psychiatric hospitals (Faust, 2003). While only five percent of the population within the United States suffers from some form of mental illness, sixteen percent of individuals within the U.S. prison system suffer mental illness, clearly showing an over representation of these individuals within the system (Ditton, 1999). Some studies even suggest that the rate of incarceration of the mentally ill is four times that of the general population for males, and nearly six times that of the general population for females (Cox, 2001). The question, then, may be asked if the criminal justice system is ignoring the issues of mental illness, but studies suggest this is not the case. In the Los Angeles county jail system alone, over $10 million a year is spent on psychiatric medications for inmates (Faust, 2003). Another study showed that nearly half of all U.S. states have, in the last four years, established commissions or task forces specifically designed to look into the connection between the mental health system and the criminal system. Further legislation has been introduced in five states calling for such commissions (Souweine, 2004). In some states, such as Ohio, serious efforts have been put into place to assist the mentally ill. Ohio state prisons have quintupled the number of mental health professionals on staff, developed better mental health screening, provided more beds for the criminally insane, improved guard training, and improved funding for inmate mental health care (Kaufman, 1999). With all of these efforts in place, it is difficult to see why the problem of untreated mental illness exists. In order to understand the problem, it is essential to first understand the origins of the situation. In the mid-1950's through the 1970's, attempts were in force to dismantle the warehouses of the mentally ill through a process known as â€Å"deinstitutionalization†. At the time, mental institutions were simply holding areas for the insane, with sparse living conditions, harsh â€Å"treatment† procedures including electroshock therapy in unsafe conditions, and brutalization of patients (Treatment Advocacy Center, 1999). Following concerns about civil rights issues, cost issues, and a desire to move to a more â€Å"outpatient† approach, numerous legislations were enacted to â€Å"deinstitutionalize† the population of mental health hospitals. First in 1965, the federal government passed legislation that specifically excluded Medicaid payments for inmates housed in state psychiatric hospitals. As a result, the states were now required to provide care, and, looking to lower costs, many discharged hundreds or thousands of patients into society (Treatment Advocacy Center, 1999). In addition, legal reforms in the 1970's were passed that required an individual to be a danger to himself or to others in order for him or her to be treated involuntarily for their illness (Faust, 2003). The result was another mass release of patients into society. The results of deinstitutionalization are clear. Since 1960, nearly 90 percent of psychiatric beds in state hospitals have been removed. In 1955, nearly 600,000 individuals resided in state psychiatric hospitals; the number today is less than 70,000 individuals (Treatment Advocacy Center, 1999). Unfortunately, however, these numbers are misleading, in that they suggest a reduction in the number of mentally ill individuals, which is not the case. For many deinstitutionalized patients, the end result was simply a transinstitutionalization, or change of residence. While the Medicaid funds had been withdrawn for state psychiatric hospitals, those funds were still available for individuals with mental illness residing in nursing homes and general hospitals. As a result, many patients were simply transferred to these types of settings, where treatment options and care for the mentally insane were not nearly as advanced. By the mid 1980's, nearly 23 percent of nursing home residents had some form of mental illness (Treatment Advocacy Center, 1999). For other deinstitutionalized patients, the results were far more disastrous. According to recent studies, nearly 200,000 individuals with schizophrenia or manic-depression are homeless (Treatment Advocacy Center, 1999). Another 200,000 of the homeless population suffer from other forms of mental illness. As homeless individuals, many of these patients are unable to maintain any form of treatment or medications, and thus are unable to receive the care they desperately need in order to function in society (Faust, 2003). Unfortunately, for many of these individuals, criminal incarceration in the final result. In some cases, family members who are unable to force their relatives into treatment facilities due to the involuntary treatment laws have no choice but to wait until the illness causes harmful behaviors. At that junction, the police are contacted, and the individual is removed to a correctional facility (Faust, 2003). Since it is now common practice to give priority to mentally ill individuals awaiting court proceedings, many family members find this method the only option for obtaining assistance (Treatment Advocacy Center, 2000). The result, according to a 1992 study, is that over 29 percent of jails in the U.S. criminal justice system report holding mentally ill individuals with no charges against them. Certain states, such as Montana, Wyoming, and New Mexico, allow such situations if the individual is being held awaiting psychiatric evaluation, a psychiatric bed in a state hospital, or transportation to that hospital (Treatment Advocacy Center, 2000). Many of these individuals are held after arrest for misdemeanors, such as trespassing, disorderly conduct, or vagrancy (Treatment Advocacy Center, 2000). In fact, nearly half of the mentally ill inmates housed within the criminal justice system at any given time have been arrested for a non-violent crime (Ditton, 1999). Additionally, studies have shown that substance abuse is often involved with many mentally ill individuals (Teplin and Abram, 2000). As a result, these individuals are often arrested for alcohol and drug related offenses (Treatment Advocacy Center, 2000). In many of these arrests, police are attempting to protect these individuals from harm, such as robbery, beatings, and rape, and therefore perform â€Å"mercy bookings† or unnecessary arrests in order to house the mentally ill (Treatment Advocacy Center, 2000). While these methods certainly provide some form of housing for the mentally ill, the consequences of that housing are astronomical. First, the costs of mentally ill housing within the criminal justice system are staggering. According to the Department of Justice in 2000, American taxpayers pay $15 billion annually for individuals incarcerated in jails and prisons with mental illnesses (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001). Additionally, while these inmates do receive some form of psychiatric care, the costs of such care are much higher than that of community care centers, while the outcomes of such treatment is often much lower. According to the Department of Justice in 2000, one in every eight state prisoners were receiving some form of mental health therapy, and of the 1,558 state correctional facilities in the nation, 1,394 provided some form of mental health care. Nearly 70 percent screen inmates at admission for mental health issues, 65 percent conduct regular psychological assessment, half provide 24-hour psychological services, nearly 75 percent distribute psychotropic medications, and 66 percent assist released individuals with obtaining community mental health services (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001). However, even with the steps in place, the programs tend to not be as intensive nor as successful as those in a more clinical or community setting. Drug therapy, used in nearly 60 percent of the mentally ill housed within the correctional system, has been shown to be less effective than drug therapy combined with other forms of therapy (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001). Since nearly two-thirds of the mentally ill inmates are housed within units not specializing in mental health services, many are not receiving forms of treatment shown to be effective (Treatment Advocacy Center, 1999). In addition to the problems with mental health care in state institutions, local institutions fare even worse. A 1992 study of American jails functioning outside of the state or federal level showed that one in five systems had no access to mental health services whatsoever. Furthermore, 84 percent of these systems reported their staff to have received either no training or less than three hours of training in dealing with mentally ill inmates (Treatment Advocacy Center, 2000). Clearly, simply housing the mentally ill within the state and local criminal justice system institutions is not cost effective, nor effective in terms of treatment given. However, there are even more drastic consequences of using the criminal justice system as a holding area for the mentally ill. First and foremost, mentally ill patients have special needs outside of simple medicinal requirements. Patterns of illogical thinking, delusions, hallucinations, severe mood swings, and other symptoms of mental illness tend to occur even in medicated mentally ill individuals. In the prison system, these symptoms which lead to bizarre and unpredictable behavior are often misunderstood by personnel that have not been trained in these types of illnesses. As a result, non-ill inmates and the personnel themselves may react with violence and punishment that is detrimental to the already fragile mental health of the individual (Treatment Advocacy Center, 2000). Still further, rape, a commonly known occurrence in prison systems, is more likely to occur in individuals who are unable to defend themselves due to confusion and disorientation as a result of their mental illness (Hiday, et al, 1998). These patterns of behaviors also lead to longer prison sentences for mentally ill inmates. In one study, done in Riker's Island Prison, the average length of stay for an inmate was 42 days. In comparison, the average rate for a mentally ill inmate was 215 days, a length five times that of a non-ill inmate. In a similar study in Pennsylvania, only 16 percent of released prisoners had served their complete sentence. Of those, the mentally ill were three times as likely to serve their complete sentence as those who were not ill (Ditton, 1999). Perhaps one of the largest problems facing the mentally ill who are incarcerated is finding community resources for equal or greater care following their release. A study completed it 1992 showed that nearly 30 percent of mentally ill inmates released commit another act within four months of release (Treatment Advocacy Center, 1999). For many, this recidivism rate is due to a lack of medications necessary to maintain a stable mental health condition. In addition, many of these individuals find themselves homeless following release, which further limits their ability to receive further treatment (Ditton, 1999). It is clear that, although the current criminal justice system certainly attempts to care for the mentally ill, more needs to be done to ensure these individuals are continuously cared for. One such step, supported by the National Sheriff's Association, is to consider new laws altering the requirements for mental ill treatment. The NSA suggests laws which would allow treatment based on a â€Å"need for treatment†, rather than simply a show of â€Å"dangerousness†. The NSA also supports measures to allow a court order to assist in outpatient treatment of individuals in the community who need such treatment, but refuse it (Faust, 2003). Many studies have shown that mentally ill individuals often are not aware of their illness and thus, refuse treatment despite their clear need for such measures (Teplin and Abram, 2000). According to a long term study supported by the NSA, long term treatment combined with routine outpatient services reduced rearrest by nearly 74 percent ( Faust, 2003). Further, increasing the availability of community services following release has shown to be an effective measure in controlling the issue of mentally ill inmates upon their release. In Cook County, Illinois, case management for released inmates is provided by the Thresholds Jail Program. The individuals of Thresholds provide 7 day a week case management for as long as the member needs assistance, and even searches the streets for those individuals who are homeless at the time of release. This commitment has resulted in an 80 percent reduction in the need for hospitalization or incarceration of released inmates. Funded through the Illinois Office of Mental Health, the program costs $25 a day, in comparison to $70 a day for incarceration, or $500 a day for hospitalization (Thresholds, 2006). Additionally, ensuring mental health screening measures, improving personnel training, and providing qualified mental health staff in all criminal justice systems, including local jails, would also help to decrease the issues related to the mentally ill within the system. In Ohio, where such measures have been implemented, there has been a dramatic increase in the care of the mentally ill. Reports show less mentally ill prisoner abuse, smaller punishments for rule infractions, and an overall increase in inmate mental health. Even further, recidivism rates of the mentally ill in Ohio have fallen nearly 80 percent (Kaufman, 1999). Deinstitutionalization had drastic effects on the future of the mentally ill in America. Unfortunately, the criminal justice system has become a replacement warehouse for the mentally ill, providing basic housing and medication for these individuals only for the duration of confinement. Once released, and even in some smaller prison systems, the inmate is left without adequate mental health treatment or medication, resulting in an endless spiral of illness and incarceration that is costing billions of dollars a year, and the lives of many mentally ill individuals. By creating new laws which allow treatment based on need, utilizing existing community resources on release, and increasing the knowledge and awareness of such issues within the personnel of the criminal justice system, these individuals can become productive members of society at a far lower cost, creating a better situation for all involved.

Literature questions

1. What is the nature of Feudal society in the Middle Ages? How might Aquinas’ concept of Natural Law reflect the more general medieval belief in hierarchy and a hierarchical universe? How does Dante’s Inferno also reflect the medieval belief in hierarchy? In other words, how does the poem structure the punishment of sin in relationship to God’s love (or its absence)? Provide two examples to illustrate this relationship, one early, one late, to show the change as we descend. The nature of Feudal society in the Middle Ages was very much that the roles of people of various classes were very much defined. The feudal lords would rule over the peasants and each person’s role in society was defined by his rank and his birth. The concept of Aquinas’ Natural Law philosophy reflects the more general medieval belief in hierarchy and hierarchical universe because this philosophy implies that there is a natural state of things; for example, the poor should be beneath the rich. Also, the concept of what is right versus what is wrong is part of this Natural Law. This idea is evident in the beliefs of the medieval period and within that particular society. In literature this belief is also reflected, such as in Dante’s Inferno, a poem that deals with hell and damnation. In this literature the medieval belief in hierarchy is connected to the idea of man’s sin. The idea of purgatory is important to the medieval belief in hierarchy because it leads one to believe that there is a natural order in the universe as well as on earth. Just as the main character in Dante’s Inferno must go through various stages of hell and purgatory before he can be reconnected with God’s love, so is this seen on earth in earthly institutions and society. 2. What are the key features of Renaissance Humanism? How does it view the capacities of humanity in distinction to the views of the Middle Ages? How might Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing reflect the new Renaissance view of humanity? Renaissance humanism is a philosophical movement that put a great deal of emphasis on what mankind can accomplish. In direct contradiction to the traditional Christian beliefs in Europe at the time, which focused on the sinfulness of mankind and that he was nothing without God, the humanist movement steered people towards the liberal arts and the humanities in hopes that the potential of mankind could be appreciated. This philosophy was almost heretical because it places such an emphasis on beauty, art, and humankind and not completely on God. While the Middle Ages saw all things that mankind accomplished as being, by nature, sinful because of the sinful nature, humanism was all about appreciating what mankind can accomplish. In â€Å"Much Ado About Nothing† by William Shakespeare the ideals of humanism are definitely reflected because of the strong emphasis on the arts and the importance of the individual as opposed to the group. In this play we see a lot of elements that are a precursor to the Romantic era, with the relationships between the lovers and the way that each of the characters interacts with each other. 3. How does the Enlightenment tend to view mankind and society? What do these thinkers believe will promote progress, happiness, and justice? How does Voltaire’s Candide both express and critique these Enlightenment assumptions? The Age of Enlightenment was a time when people were beginning to reexamine the accepted ideals and beliefs of times past. It was a time of reason, when they began to really look for their own answers and not relying solely on the Church to tell them what to believe, or the monarchs. The Enlightenment viewed mankind and society as having free will, not having innate virtues given to them automatically by God. Society was supposed to help create equality, liberty, and fraternity, and even accepted forms of government were reexamined. The thinkers of the Enlightenment believed that true progress, happiness, and justice could only be achieved by creating societies that nurtured mankind’s search for reason and establishing equality among people. In Voltaire’s Candide the writer shows the audience the transition from the beliefs of the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment in the difference between the attitudes of two of the characters. In this story Pangloss sees the world as being naturally right, while Candide feels that it is not fate that makes a persons life, but their own actions. This idea is seen throughout the story of these two characters as they progress through El Dorado, where gold is not worth anything because there is so much of it. This idea is also very rational in nature and reflects the Enlightenment view. 4. How does the Romantic movement represent a revolt against key Enlightenment values? How might Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights express some reservations about some extreme Romantic assertions, particularly about the passions of the â€Å"natural† self as opposed to the artificial constraints of civilization? The Romantic movement represents a revolt against key Enlightenment values because it was during this period that there was a shift in values and core beliefs from the logical and rational emphasis of the Enlightenment to a period that focused more on the natural passions of each individual person. While the Enlightenment focuses more on the head, the Romantic period definitely was all about the heart, and people projected that shift in values through their art and writing. Everything about the Romantic period challenged the view that science, reasoning, and society were what needed to dictate one’s actions. Instead, the focus should be on one’s own wants and needs. In a novel like Wuthering Heights, written during the Romantic period, these extreme Romantic assertions were even challenged. In this novel the characters are fighting with their inner passions and their natural selves. The love story between Heathcliff and Catherine is a perfect example of a Romantic relationship: she’s rich, he’s poor, and he is very much the antagonistic type of character and yet she loves him because of what is in her heart. While the Romantic period was all about opposing the artificial constraints of civilization and not worrying about what society dictates but instead depending on their own feelings to dictate them, this novel challenges this by posing questions about whether or not the relationship between these two main characters is really a good one. 5. Andre Gide’s Straight is the Gate, published in 1909, is set in the period just before World War One: in other words, at a time when it was still possible to hold nineteenth-century ideals. Even though Gide was unaware of the catastrophe about to fall on Europe, he still seems to sense that there is something wrong with the bourgeois world of the age. What does the story suggest is wrong with this pre-war world? How might Gide be classified as a modernist? In Andre Gide’s Strait is the Gate seems to suggest that there are problems existent in the pre-war world of Europe, mostly having to do with the bourgeois world of the age and the way that people viewed each other. This story at first glance is a love story that deals with the way that dedication to God can change the way people relate to each other, particuarly in the relationship between Alissa and Jerome, but it shows that the Romantic ideals of the 19th century were still being held onto by many people in Europe. Gide can be classified as a modernist because his style was very modern but, more importantly, his themes were modern in that he was a humanist that was moving away from the 19th century beliefs that were prevalent at the time and dealing with issues in society, especially issues dealing with homosexuality and challenging religious beliefs.

Fictional hospitality operation -wedding event company- Essay

Fictional hospitality operation -wedding event company- - Essay Example Everything is designed with you, making certain your wedding day is truly individual. Our chefs are talented, unique, flexible and happy to meet the growing and personalized demands of each client. In 5 years, B & G will have a large network of customers in the neighboring regions with high exposure through a number of advertising techniques and through customer referrals. B & G will be a recognised events venue with a large clientele base and more function halls to accommodate for increasing customers. We make full custom packages for any budget - we even offer free wedding advertising through web or through media such as billboards, flyers, television, newspaper ads and radio. Advertising campaigns and websites for B & G have been made to assist the owner in becoming a known and distinguished wedding reception business. We evaluated the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in our wedding planning venture. A SWOT analysis can help establish a current position, and helps analyze reasons for the position of the firm. The prime function of the business is providing great service for own clients. Putting a smile on people’s faces is definitely important to our business, as gaining consumer loyalty and trust is very important, which is exactly outlined in the firm mission statement. These include: improve rostering and scheduling processes of arranging staff; use latest technology to help business perform different functions; finance; improve management accounting and reports for simple decision making; strategic goals; etc. The third objective that B & D wishs to complete relates to the staff members and keeping all employees happy and motivated. To keep all employees motivated, loyal to the firm and to keep working to the best of ones ability our company must provide the staff with monetary and non-monetary benefits. This strategy will work by using these benefits to ensure that the workplace is

The Changing Representations of African Americans in Drama Essay

The Changing Representations of African Americans in Drama - Essay Example The fact that "racism inscribed in the nation's Constitution and legal history has practically insured that a national tendency towards blindness, psychosis and stammering around race would carry over into the 21st century,"(Tate 44) and this is clearly demonstrated in America's modern media. Today we see the demonstration and celebration of the clever and reflective achievements of African Americans not only in the field of entertainment, but also in other distinct fields as well. This paper will explore the changing representations of African Americans in theatre and television. I will also examine the implications of these roles and the ways in which they influence others’ perceptions of the black race. There are many intelligent Blacks working in the American theatre today who have labored to bring forth its daring and often healing truths. Reviewing the bulk African American performance, theatre and drama, and brings into focus the years of glory of the Harlem Renaissance, ranging from the plays and sporting events to fights and dances. To assess the development in the American African theatre, one needs to examine the important contributions of the black male and female playwrights. With the contemporary focus on multi-cultural theatre, anthologies of plays by African Americans are important additions about the Black theatre because the number of venues in producing plays by African American authors has greatly increased (Collier). Criteria that make a television and film drama great and some productions mediocre are the significant stories that show the age and the period by portraying the characteristic conflict and choices and immediate circumstances of the characters’ lives. ' lives. Today, the visual media and studies are employing different approaches and methods whereby some skim the surface and shun the question of value, while others penetrate beneath the surface and take on questions of value in the most direct way. Drama and movies have presented models that have had the ability of being challenging, probing, insightful and therapeutic by portraying believable characters in credible situations, challenged to make choices. It is clear "America is experiencing a new black cultural renaissance, and nowhere is it more evident than on the nation's theatre stages." (Nesmith). While old stereotypes are not completely gone. Some shows project Blacks as lazy and not wanting to better themselves, when in reality it is an enormous struggle to overcome oppression and gain equal opportunities for themselves. Everything produced on the television cannot always be great drama. Certain shows set back race relations because their view of Black assimilation is not projected positively. But the works of the African American playwrights present the philosophy and magnitude due to the depth of the inner unity between the characters and the concrete collisions of the socio-historical forces of their time. Around the 1950's, the visual entertainment was shifting toward television shows, and it became important for the survival of the motion picture to have new ideas. This resulted in the 1950 Hollywood presentation of a Black middle class family, "No Way Out." "Thirty years ago, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, in the year Malcolm X was shot and riots broke out across the country, Douglas Turner Ward used comedy and satire to deliver a message of the

Business Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business Research Methods - Essay Example Today, highly advanced technologies are available and that can be used for various purposes of an organization. Information technology, mainly use of computer and software-assisted tools can be used for research and various other organizational functions. In research, different types of software can be used to ensure greater accuracy and dependability of the data or information being collected and studied. Purposes of Organizational Research Business organizations require useful, valid and accurate data in order to run the business effectively. When data are made available in the form of raw and they are converted to more useful, analyzed, synthesized and evaluated form, known as information, they are more helpful to managers to make appropriate decisions (Sekaran, 2003, p. 42). Basically, the research is conducted for two different purposes, one is to find a solution to a current problem faced by managers in specific work setting and it requires timely solution. This is known as app lied research. The second is to generate a body of knowledge in order to solve certain problems that are likely to occur within the organization. it is known as basic research (Sekaran, 2003, p. 7). For a business organization, financial and various other functional data play vital roles in decision making and many other managerial functions. For example, sales figures, gross and net profit, sales returns, reasons for sales return, commission or interest received, percentage increase in interest and profit and many other financial data are of greater use to the business. Both financial and management accounting departments can make use of these information for various decision making and strategic thinking processes. As Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005, p. 5) noted, business organizations are attempting to develop strategic monitoring programs in order to help them identify and recognize competitors’ strengths, weaknesses and overall business strategies. Business firms can establish computer-based analysis so that they can provide better information-management system to help them develop effective strategies and thus to sustain business success. As it is clear with any case, none can take decisions on any important issue unless a more deep investigation about that specific issue can be conducted. This investigation is more likely to help analyze all these information to make a judgment about the right solution to the specific problem being identified. Business Research with presently available software Generally, in recent years computer has become an integral part of business and it plays extremely significant roles in research as well. In simple terms, computer software like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and any other spreadsheet or document software that are currently available are widely used for various research purposes. All these sorts of software are used for recording, listing, analyzing, interpreting, calculating, controlling, evaluating and synthe sizing different types of data. For instance, Microsoft Excel can be used for calculations and data presentation in a large numbers of different formats. Apart from these very basic software tools that are widely used for organizational research, following are some of other software that have recently gained significant importance in research. 1- Groupware- Groupware is a software, linked to networking to help research team work on

Energy resources and their impact on economy Essay

Energy resources and their impact on economy - Essay Example The reason behind this is that the utilization of these forms of energy is heavily technologically dependent and these technologies are still in the stages of infancy. There are many difficulties in implementing these technologies, some of them being their higher costs and sophistication of usage procedures to the common layman. Coal is a fossil fuel that is formed in the earth's crust from slow metamorphosis of organic matter under high temperature and pressure conditions. The rate at which coal is formed is very slow and it takes millions of years for the formation of coal. Coal originally formed from ancient plants that after death were decomposed and somehow buried under layers of sedimentary rocks. With the passage of time more and more layers of sediments formed on this decomposed plant matter. This exerted high pressure and resulted in increase of temperature. Over millions of years these physical conditions caused coal to form from the elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, and mineral compounds that were present in the plant matter. Coal formation began during the carboniferous period known as the first coal age which spanned 360 to 290 million years before the present day. Coal deposits are fo... There exists a hairline difference between the terms "reserves" and "resources". Reserves are coal deposits that be extracted profitably with the application of technology where as resources are an estimate of the world's total coal deposits. All the resources may not be reserves because some of them are not commercially accessible. Total recoverable reserves of coal around the world are estimated at 1,001 billion tons-enough to last approximately 190 years at current consumption levels. Historically, estimates of world recoverable coal reserves, although relatively stable, have declined gradually from 1,167 billion tons at the beginning of 1990 to 1,083 billion tons in 2000 and 1,001 billion tons in 2003. The most recent assessment of world coal reserves includes a substantial downward adjustment for Germany, from 73 billion tons of recoverable coal reserves to 7 billion tons. (International Energy Outlook 2005) The coal reserves are geographically distributed as follows: Europe, in cluding all of Russia and other countries that made up Soviet Union, 44 percent; North America, 28 percent; Asia, 17 percent; Australia, 5 percent; Africa, 5 percent; and South America, 1 percent. (Speight 2003) A substantial quantity of coal consumed is burned in electric power stations to produce electricity. When coal is burned energy is obtained in the form of heat. In a power station that uses coal as the fuel, this heat converts water into super heated steam at high pressure which is made to rotate a turbine connected to a dynamo to produce electricity. The steel industry uses coke. Coke is a hard substance consisting of nearly pure carbon and is obtained by heating coal in absence of air. The coke is combined with iron

Political science. Palestine and Orientalism Essay

Political science. Palestine and Orientalism - Essay Example In his study Said blended political polemic and literary excursion. He writes: "The Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also the place of Europe's greatest and richest and oldest colonies, the source of its civilizations and languages, its cultural contestant, and one of its deepest and most recurring images of the Other" (Said, 1979, pp.1-2) Said claims that Orientalism is an academic area which causes interest in a variety of academic institutions, because all teachers, sooner or later begin to research Orient and apply their knowledge in the areas of their competence. Said holds that since the end of eighteenth century the scholarly and academic meanings of Orientalism have been quite 'politically correct' and the related efforts have been restricted. Furthermore, Said believes that Orientalism reflects Western style of domination and is close-knit with Western mind, usually related to perceiving Orient as a 'younger brother' or 'poorer kin'. Said holds that the antagonistic political relationship between the Sast and the West lies in the earliest development the struggle between Islam and Christianity. According to Said, Orientalism, which presents Christian world as 'higher', is used as a demonstration of European power and is seen as a comparative theory, in which two eternal rivals - the East and the West - make an 'argument' with predicted conclusion which is to sum up that European beliefs and culture are more humanistic and more suitable and more appropriate for harmonious development of an individual. Similarly to other '-isms', Orientalism has been ill-treated from the ancient times up to the present. From the other angle of view, Orientalism is a natural movement, whose toughness is quite sufficient in its universal authenticity. This movement is a product of synergy, which takes place among different studies, accumulated by different followers, who are interested in one of the richest world cultures, and Oriental culture. Moreover, Said's study has itself caused a number of responses, either positive or negative.Lewis attempted to criticize Said's approach -in particular, in his article ' The question of Orientalism', which defended Middle Eastern studies, and in particular, Palestinian studies. On the other hand, Lewis was a newcomer to the United States, and his refutation - a forceful defense of the European and Palestinian traditions (which sometimes converts into an attack) - did not canceled Said's complaints about the problems and complications of American Middle Eastern studies. Lewis, for instance, writes that, in fact, Europe hasn't yet experienced (or probably, hasn't noticed) such considerable influence of Orientalism on its tradition. Lewis's main notes were following: 1) Firstly, it would be wrong to claim that Oriental studies are limited to the study of Muslim culture, while in fact Biblical research is an essential and substantial element or Orientalism. Palestine as the country of diverse religions supports both religious doctrines, so it needs more profound inquiry than Said has done. 2) Secondly, there is no doubt that an identifiable part of Western studies was stimulated by either political or religious propaganda "and appeared throughout the ages with distorted images of Islam, the East and its cultures; however, this movement cannot be termed "Orientalism", rather it is "False Orientalism" (Lewis, 1982,

Real Estate Foreclosures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Real Estate Foreclosures - Essay Example Through foreclosure process, banks or creditors can reclaim the possessions of owner if he/she is unable to fulfill the contract of mortgage loan. As the financial crisis has occurred in the USA, the numbers of foreclosures have increased. Several banks such as Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Ally among others had announced foreclosures against the homeowners who failed to repay the loan amount. Real Estate Foreclosures and the Financial Crisis The unreasonable strategies of financial institutions in the USA had allowed many people to purchase houses which they could not manage to pay for. It was unwise for people to think that house prices will only increase and as a result people started to take loans and purchase property from them in the prediction that the cost will increase in future, which will make it easy for them to repay the amount. When the bubble burst, the house price began to decrease considerably and several home owners were trapped unexpectedly to pay for the l oan amount. As people understood that they will lose more money by selling their property compared to the loan amount, they foreclosed. The increasing rate of foreclosure had freaked several banks as well as hedge funds that had already converted the loan amounts to securities and comprehended large amount of losses (Edmonds, â€Å"What's The No. 1 Reason for Foreclosure?†). According to Mortgage Banker Association (MBA) above 900,000 households had foreclosed in the year 2008 which was 71% more compared to 2007. It was recoded as highest foreclosure rate over 36 years in the US economy. The main reason for foreclosure was the attitude of people of maintaining lifestyle beyond their affordability. The subprime loans frequently arrive with low preliminary interest rates and thus people with less affordability are the key receivers of it (Edmonds, â€Å"What's The No. 1 Reason for Foreclosure?†). Causes of Foreclosures The unconscious purchasers of loans are liable for f oreclosure crisis in the USA. In order to benefit from the large loan values, people had chosen several dishonest paths such as fabricating their income, and increasing the values of pledged properties. The lenders had also avoided taking necessary actions against such conducts and made this happen. Generally, people are not very aware about financial details with respect to planning their own revenues. They were simply attracted by the smartly influencing media and thus often fall for overwhelming mortgage culture. The leaders and politicians were more engaged with spending more amounts compared to tax revenue. The high expenditure had resulted in deficit of budget. In order to deal with the deficit, government had produced more currency which brought inflation and the value of Dollar fell significantly. As a result, the prices of essential goods increased and ordinary people became incapable to cope up with the higher inflation rate. The expense for mortgage amount increased due t o fluctuating interest rate and foreclosure was the end result of it. Several unethical decisions to deal with the deficit of budget such as borrowing money from overseas countries and spending excess money on war had degraded the economy of the USA (Vidmar, â€Å"Seven Ways Foreclosures Impact Communities†

Organizational Culture Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organizational Culture Analysis - Research Paper Example The presence of continues disagreements on the shared values or lack of commitment by the staff members is a sign of weak organizational culture and it is usually not healthy for any given company. Some of the strongest values that the employees of the company that I worked for termed, as being important to them are that of honesty, trust, quality production, and discipline amongst others. Consistency is one of the primary values that the employees viewed as being most important (Baack, 2012). Consistency in the duties that we performed in the company accompanied by a high degree of precision together led to an improvement in the general performance and production of the company. The behavior of each and every employee acting as a role model for the other also acted as a strong culture that helped in the smooth running if the organization. The above culture helped in making the employees be responsible for whatever action they did in the company (Baack, 2012). Being responsible tends to reduce the conflicts between the management and the employees themselves that in turn lead to strong relationships between the parties. The result of this was improved production. Another key culture that existed in the company is that of attention to details that lead to the creation of a very strong production culture with lots of accuracies. In this value, the employees paid full attention in the process of production. The process then ensured that quality was achieved and at the same time, the deadlines for production were met too. The production of high-quality goods was another organizational culture that governed our work in the company (Baack, 2012). Each employee was supposed to work in his or her line of production while ensuring that the full production procedures were followed to ensure the production of high-quality products. The employees were given the opportunity to start or stop the production process if they noticed any fault in the production line

‘Strategic Hrm and Performance Essay Example for Free

‘Strategic Hrm and Performance Essay The people in an organization are considered to be one of the most valuable resources of today’s firms. Other resources such as brands, products, processes, technological advancement, economies of scale can still provide a competitive advantage but an organisation’s human capital are more vital for its sustainability. The idea that an organisation’s Human Resource can play a strategic role in determining its success has led to the development of a field of research commonly referred to as Strategic Human Resource Management. The understanding of the causal relationship between HR and organisational performance helps HR managers to design policies that will bring forth better operational efficiency to achieve higher organizational performance. The emergence of ‘strategic’ HRM represents a paradigm shift from the traditional HRM models. It is concerned more specifically with the relationship between HRM and the strategic context. (Wood, Holman and Stride, 2006: 100) HR practices are the main tool which an organisation can use to change the pool of human capital as well as an attempt to shift and align organisational behaviours which leads to organisational success. The skills, behaviour and attitudes of employees must fit the strategic needs of the firm in order for it to develop a competitive advantage. However, the singular focus on the strategic interests of an organisation have been criticised by some who suggest that this may be to the detriment of the employees (Van Buren, Greenwood and Sheehan, 2011: 209) There has been a steady growth over the last two decades of research literature around  strategic HRM and according to Gooderham, Parry and Ringdal (2008: 2042), this can be broadly divided into three main kinds of theories Universalistic, Contingency and Configurational. Universalistic theories have an underlying assumption that there is a direct link between some human resource practices and organisational performance across all organisations and under all conditions (Lengnick-Hall, Lengnick-Hall, Andrade, and Drake, 2009: 68) and are concerned with ‘best practice’. Contingency theories reject the universal applicability of human resource practices, therefore supposing that the relationship between them and performance will differ depending on various external and internal factors and influences. Configurational theories suggest that the impact of strategic HRM on organisational performance is dependent on the use of an effective combination of interconnected human resource practices. This provides a useful framework for closer examination of the link between theory and practice. Universalistic Theory: In relation to the universalistic theory, the current literature provides much empirical evidence for a direct and linear link between strategic HRM and a positive impact on organisational performance (Boselie, Dietz and Boon, 2005: 67; Combs, Liu, Hall and Ketchen, 2006: 501; Katou and Budhwar, 2006: 1248; Stavrou, Brewster and Charalambous, 2010: 952). In their study of the retail industry, Chuang and Liao (2010: 185) concluded there was a clear link between strategic HRM and performance. They found that human resource practices can facilitate a â€Å"climate of concern† for both customers and employees which subsequently encourages employees to work well with their customers and co-workers which is essential in achieving higher levels of market performance. However the specific ways in which human resource practices impact on organisational outcomes are not always clear and their level of impact has been subject to criticism. Whilst there is strong  evidence to support the view that universal ‘best practices’ provide a strong foundation for strategic HRM, other factors need to be considered in order to achieve a higher level of performance. (Lengnick-Hall, Lengnick-Hall, Andrade, and Drake, 2009: 68). Despite the volume of evidence to suggest the contrary, there is also an increasing consensus in the current literature amongst researchers that human resource practices themselves do not directly impact on performance. Instead, it is suggested that they merely influence resources, such as the human capital, or how employees behave, and it is these, rather than the practices themselves, that subsequently lead to performance. (Katou and Budhwar, 2006: 1224). The ability to influence through strong leadership plays an important role in helping employees to be aware of the sets of HR best practices. These best practices need the support of top-level managers to adopt them in the first place, which in turn will greatly influence the buy-in from the rest of the employees in the organization. If these so called ‘best practices’ are mainly from the perspective of top management and shareholders, while there is no room for employees’ voices to be heard, the theoretical aspect of strategic HRM will not work. In their study of performance and strategic HRM in Call Centres across the UK, Wood, Holman and Stride (2006: 120) found very limited support for the human resource-performance relationship and identified inconsistent results across practices and performance. Furthermore, in other research conducted by Hesketh and Fleetwood (2006: 678), they conclude that â€Å"the empirical evidence for the existence of an HRM–performance link is inconclusive†. In real life, companies may need to respond to external pressures which creates problems of treating employees with consistency of treatment, especially over time and may cause problems of retaining good and loyal staff. Simply developing the appropriate HR practices in theory will not be enough because HR advantages also depend on how these practices are implemented on the ground. For example, an organisation that focuses on the well-being of their employees in an economic recession or times of increased competition may be forced to decide between commitment to employees and a need to cut costs, restructure or lay-offs in order to stay solvent. Therefore, looking for a link between HR practices and performance is a futile effort because the main focus needs to be on the relationship between policy, practices, processes, implementation  and performance. This is a huge effort that is not easily and practically achieved in many organisations today. Contingency Theory: In relation to the contingency theory described by Gooderham, Parry and Ringdal (2008: 2042), whereby the relationship between strategic HRM practices and performance is said to vary according to different external and internal factors and contextual variables, there is some support. Internal influences identified in the literature include factors such as technology, structure and size of the organisation and business strategy, and external influences include factors such as the legal, social and political environment (Lengnick-Hall, Lengnick-Hall, Andrade, and Drake, 2009: 66). For instance, within Wal-Mart, those in charge of logistics have extremely valuable and unique skills, much more so than the average sales associate. On the other hand, at Nordstrom’s, because customer service is important, sales associate skills are more critical to the strategy than those of the logistics employees. Indeed Godard (2010: 466) argues that a key criticism of the current research around strategic HRM practices is its failure to pay sufficient systematic attention to these variables and to the impact that historical, institutional and socioeconomic conditions may have had on human resource practices over time. Similarly, Hueslid and Becker (2001: 427) suggest that whilst the nature of work and organisations has undergone considerable change over the past two decades, the practice of strategic HRM has changed much less and this failure to adapt and be flexible has a direct impact on how well it works in practice and how much influence it has on organisational performance. Relating to this, Kim (2010: 42) asserts that understanding employees’ expectations for their work environment is fundamental to developing successful human resource practices including expectations around merit awards, promotion and career development opportunities and organisational rules. Critics of the contingency theory approach, however, suggest that whilst the arguments surrounding it build a theoretical foundation that is more solid that that of the universalistic approach, the evidence of its effectiveness in practice does not reach the same level of statistical validity. (Martin-Alcazar, Romero-Fernandez and Sanchez-Gardey, 2005: 636). Configurational Theory: Finally, with regard to the third theory proposed by Gooderham, Parry and Ringdal (2008: 2042), there appears to be a strong evidence base of support in the current literature for configurational theory. This theory suggests that the impact of strategic HRM is dependent on the effective combination of a range of interrelated and multi-dimensional practices that must work well with one another in order to achieve positive performance outcomes. In their study of strategic HRM and organisational development in British manufacturing firms, De Menezes, Wood and Gelade (2010: 468), concur with this and argue that strategic HRM only has the ability to achieve multiple goals and higher organisational performance, when it is fully integrated with other practices. Similarly, Boxall and Purcell (2000: 186) note that too often there remains a marked tendency in organisations to view human resource practices as an end in themselves, rather than as integral to the organisation and they are therefore are not appropriately linked in to one another and to other management practices, which subsequently impacts on how effectively they operate. The role and skills of human resource practitioners has also been the subject of much research in relation to what impact they have in making strategic HRM work in practice. Some commentators suggest that in order for practices to be effective, practitioners need to possess key strategic skills and core abilities including a high level of knowledge about the business and the environment in which it operates, organisational effectiveness skills, and conflict management skills (Ingham, 2010: 32). Furthermore, Van Buren, Greenwood and Sheehan (2011: 210) propose that the duality of roles that human resource practitioners have historically played, as both employer representatives and as employee advocates, has led to complications and may impact on how effective human resource management is in practice. They go on to suggest that human resource managers face pressures to emphasise employer goals, and often this impacts negatively on their role of advocating for employee welfare, and that they are constrained by demands of their managers and the organisational cultures in which they operate. (2011: 211). Related to this, another feature of the current literature is how  human resource practices are implemented and by whom within organisations. The evidence suggests that rather than being seen as a ‘specialist’ role, much of the work around human resource practice is increasingly being delegated to middle managers to implement. Critics of this approach suggest that these managers are not equipped with the essential skills and time needed to effectively implement strategic HRM. Growing workloads and rising expectations of their roles have increased tensions within their position as middle managers, with their perception that they do not have the time or resources to effectively manage their staff (McConville and Holden, 1999: 406). In a study of line manager involvement in human resource practice in the NHS, Currie and Proctor (2001: 53) found that line managers are important to strategic change within the organisation when given discretion to implement human resource strategies within their own teams. However, managers may not place the same value on strategic HRM, and managers are much more reactive than proactive, and are not likely to prioritise human resource issues unless any problems associated with them become critical. Many managers in today’s organisations are more task oriented because of the demands of multi-tasking, while ideally they should be spending most of their time really managing their staff and departments. This may not be entirely their fault because many organisations today are often dominated by cost-benefit analysis and talk a lot about trade-offs rather than the emotional and mental well-being of their employees. Another key feature of the literature is associated with the methodological challenges that exist in assessing to what extent strategic HRM theory works in practice. These challenges arise from the lack of a single agreed definition or list of human resource practices or systems to measure the relationship between strategic HRM and organisational performance (Paauwe, 2009: 136). The absence of this means that performance may only be ascribed to the specific effects of single interventions rather than measured as a whole. It has been recognised that the development and evaluation of a more comprehensive model demonstrating a causal link between strategic HRM and performance is needed. (Huselid and Becker, 2011: 422). Wright and McMahan (2011: 95) propose that there are three key measures that exist whereby the effectiveness of human capital and therefore human resource practices can be  measured. These include: subjective measures such as employee perceptions; proxy measures which are used as alternatives where aspects of practice are difficult to quantify; and direct assessments which involves measuring tangible factors such as levels of academic attainment of employees or productivity. However, they acknowledge that these measures are not necessarily easy to implement and that all pose challenges for those wanting to research and measure the effectiveness of human resource practices. Others argue that any measures of the impact of strategic HRM and human resource practices are at high risk of bias and misinterpretation and any results relating to this should therefore be treated with caution (Gardner and Wright, 2009: 68). Conclusion: The purpose of this paper is not to ignore the importance of Strategic Human Resource Management theories and the benefits it brings to organisations’ competitive advantage. The studies put in by many renowned theorists seemed to show that there is indeed a link between well executed Human Resource policies and strategies with organizational performance: Table 1: Outcomes of research on the link between HR and organizational performance. Source: Michael Armstrong (2006). Strategic Human Resource Management: A Guide to Action. Kogan Page. London. p. 73-74 The current research literature provides a very mixed view of how well the theory of strategic HRM works in practice. Whilst some studies provide convincing evidence to point to a direct causal link with strategic HRM and high organisational performance, others provide equally compelling evidence to suggest that there is no link and in some cases, even a negative correlation with good performance. In addition, many studies suggest that there are a wide range of variables which impact on how effectively the theory of strategic HRM translates into practice, and which make it difficult to differentiate the impact of strategic HRM from other management activities, and other factors including internal and external organisational pressures and drivers, the type and size of the organisation, and the skill base and strategic placement of human resource management related roles  within the organisation. It also depends on whether the organisation has the capability and the skilled resources to communicate and implement the HR strategies across all level in the organisation. For example, from top management to department heads or from line managers to service staff as well as interactions between departments and employees. The issue is additionally problematic when combined with the lack of consensus on the measures to be used to assess the impact of strategic HRM on performance. A major challenge for Strategic Human Resource Management in the near future is to is to establish a clear and consistent construct for organisational performance. Despite the strong theoretical grounds for believing that strategic HRM should be beneficial for organisational performance, the evidence in practice is ambiguous. Strategic HRM is a complex and ever evolving process and given the contesting evidence and the lack of agreed metrics, the debate around whether or not strategic HRM works in practice will continue on. One aspect of this debate, however, where there does seem to be consensus, is around the need for further research in this area, and perhaps only with this, can the debate ever be truly settled. Reference List Boselie, P., Dietz, G., and Boon, C. (2005) â€Å"Commonalities and contradictions in HRM and performance†, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 15 (1), pp. 67–94. Boxall, P. and Purcell, J. (2000) â€Å"Strategic Human Resource Management: where have we come from and where should we be going?† International Journal of Management Reviews, Vol. 2 (2), pp. 183-203. Chuang, C.H. and Liao, H. (2010) â€Å"Strategic Human Resource Management in Service Context: Taking Care of Business by Taking Care of Employees and Customers†, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 63, pp. 153-196. Currie, G. and Procter, S. (2001) â€Å"Exploring the Relationship between HR and Middle Managers†, Personnel Review, Vol. 11 (3), pp. 53-69. De Menezes, L.M., Wood, S. and Gelade, G. (2010) â€Å"The integration of human resource and operation management practices and its link with performance: A longitudinal latent class study†, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 28, pp. 455-471. Edgar, F. and Geare, A. (2005). â€Å"HRM practice and employee attitudes: Different measures – different results†, Personnel Review, Vol. 34 (5), pp. 534-549. Godard, J. (2010) â€Å"What Is Best for Workers? â€Å"The Implications of Workplace  and Human Resource Management Practices Revisited†, Industrial Relations, Vol. 49 (3), pp. 466-488. Gooderham, P., Parry, E. and Ringdal, K. (2008) â€Å"The impact of bundles of strategic human resource management practices on the performance of European firms†, The International Journal of Human Resource Management†, Vol. 19 (11), pp. 2041-2056. Gould-Williams, J. and Davies, F. (2005). â€Å"Using social exchange theory to predict the effects of HRM practice on employee outcomes†, Public Management Review, Vol. 7 (1), pp. 1-24. Hathorn, M. (2012) Human Capital Challenges and Priorities, Optimis Human Capital Management: Switzerland. Katou, A.A. and Budhwar, P.S. (2006) â€Å"Human resource management systems and organizational performance: a test of a mediating model in the Greek manufacturing context†, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 17 (7), pp.1223-1253. Lengnick-Hall, M.L., Lengnick-Hall, C.A., Andrade, L.S. and Drake, B. (2009) â€Å"Strategic human resource management: The evolution of the field†, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 19, pp. 64-85. Marescaux, E., De Winne, S. and Sels, L. (2010) HRM practices and work outcomes: The role of basic need satisfaction, Research Centre for Organisation Studies: Belgium. Martin-Alcazar, F., Romero-Fernandez, P.M. and Sanchez-Gardey, G. (2005) â€Å"Strategic human resource management: integrating the universalistic, contingent, configurational and contextual perspectives†, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 16 (5), pp. 633-659. McConville, T. and Holden, L. (1999) The filling in the sandwich: HRM and middle managers in the health sector, Personnel Review, Vol. 28 (5/6), pp.406–424. Stavrou, E.T., Brewster, C. and Charalambous, C. (2010) â€Å"Human resource management and firm performance in Europe through the lens of business systems: best fit, best practice or both?†, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 21 (7), pp. 933-962. Van Buren III, H.J., Greenwood, M. and Sheehan, C. (2011) â€Å"Strategic human resource management and the decline of the employee focus†, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 21, pp. 209-219. Wood, S., Holman, D. and Stride, C. (2006) â€Å"Human Resource Management and Performance in UK Call Centres†, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 44 (1), pp. 99-124. Wright, P.M. and McMahan, G.C. (2011) â€Å"Exploring human capital: putting human back into strategic human resource management†, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 21 (2), pp. 93-104.

Website Migration Project Essay Example for Free

Website Migration Project Essay Introduction Tony’s Chips is a medium sized enterprise that aims to enhance its operations through e commerce. The company aims to migrate from its current externally hosted website to a new e commerce system that will be hosted internally. The new system will provide data storage, retrieval, security and recovery solutions for the enterprise. It will also enable the company to perform commercial transactions through the website. The new system is expected to improve on the operational reliability provided by the existing system. The company also aims to adopt a system that will provide better data integrity facilities. The firm’s management views a redundant system as offering the most ideal recovery solutions. The new system is expected to provide improved database facilities as well as facilitate the firm’s electronic transactions. Project goal This project aims to produce a system that will adequately address Tony’s Chips system requirements. In light of this, the system’s architecture will consider all of the system’s requirements in its design. The system’s architecture will make use of the ideally performing applications. The project aims to create a cohesive system from the many available system components by putting emphasis on application compatibility. The project also aims at creating reliable recovery solutions for the system. This will be undertaken with the aim of enhancing system recoverability. Available system component alternatives The system’s requirements call for an adoption of system architecture that is robust, stable and efficient. The architecture will encompass an operating system platform, a database, a web server and server side scripting software. For each of these system sub sections, there is a large variety of software solutions available for adoption. These tools possess operational, cost and adaptability characteristics that make them suited for application in varying areas. A web server’s operating system has a  significant influence on the efficiency of the resident system (Gunther, 2006). This necessitates the need for an ideal web server platform choice. Several operating system (OS) platform alternatives are available to Tony’s Chips. For instance, the company can choose to run the new system on a Microsoft Windows Server OS platform. Some of the server platform applications provided by Microsoft include Windows Server 2008 and 2012. These operating systems are advant ageous in that most online applications are available to the Microsoft Windows Server platform. Additionally, expertise on Windows server OS is readily available. As a result, implementation and maintenance operations for applications using this platform are complemented by available personnel. However, Microsoft’s licensing fees for new versions of the OS present an economic obstacle to the adoption of the platform. In addition, the platform’s security facilities are not as reliable as those of alternative server platforms such as Linux and UNIX (MacDonald, 2009). Linux offers a variety of server OS distributions. These include Red Hat, Ubuntu and CentOS. These server platforms have the common advantage of being easily customizable, stable, secure and robust (Tanenbaum, 2001). Cento possesses the best expertise support among Linux distros. This is because of its long development cycle. CentOS, however, does not possess the enterprise level operating abilities of Red Hat Linux. Of the currently available Linux distributions, Red Hat Linux offers the best performance when used in enterprise level applications. UNIX is also a viabl e server OS platform alternative. Its performance characteristics are similar to those of Linux. Its hardware specificity and cost, however, present a challenge to its adoption in server applications. As shown, a variety of server platform facilities are available to Tony’s Chips’ project. Tony’s Chips’ choice of web server software will significantly affect the project’s success. Various web server software alternatives are available to the company’s system design. Microsoft’s internet information services (IIS) is one such solution. This webs server is designed to run on Windows server platforms. Consequently, it integrates well with Microsoft’s online applications. It features an intuitive graphical user interface that simplifies its installation and use. However, the costs of installing new versions of this web server are high. In addition, its restriction to the Microsoft server OS platform inhibits  system flexibility. An alternative to IIS is the Apache web server. This is an open sourced application that can be implemented on a wide variety of operating system platforms. Apache’s integration of a pearl and PHP engine facilitates easy integration with the application programming interface (Gunther, 2006). In addition, this web server is available for free. This makes it a cost effective alternative. Further, Apache’s event-driven architecture enables it to perform ideally even under heavy loads. However, Apache usage involves a relatively strenuous learning curve. The software’s complexity may present an obstacle to its use by new users. Another web server that can be adopted for use in this project is Nginx. This server is easy to use as well as stable. It is also based on an event driven architecture. This architecture makes it an efficient user of system resources even under heavy loads (Tanenbaum, 2001). Nginx’s ease of installation, configuration, and use make it a viable alternative for adoption in Tony’s Chips system. As illustrated, various applications are available for adoption in the project. Various alternatives also exist for scripting of the system’s server side applications. PHP, pearl, ASP, coldfusion and Java are some of the choices available to this project. PHP’s advantage accrues from its relative simplicity. It can be integrated into HTML with ease making it an ideal choice for many web development projects. However, its power is limited by the language’s relatively short life span (Tanenbaum, 2001). In spite of this, PHP has the ability to perform adequately in most website applications. Another scripting alternative, ASP, provides great performance for the majority of web server applications. It enables combination of scripting languages such as VB script and Javascript. This makes it very powerful. However, ASP is limited its scope of application. It can only be used on the Microsoft Windows platform. This limits system flexibility. Coldfusion is also a viable server application choice for use in Tony’s Chips system. It is simple, flexible and powerful. However, it is relatively expensive. Java also presents a suitable chose for use in the system. Java can be utilized for the project in a number of ways. The language can be used to create Java server pages which integrate Java code into HTML. Java can also be used to create request handling programs. These programs send complex requests to Java web pages. This feature makes it possible to execute complicated data manipulation operations with ease (Hunt John 2011). Java is also a cross platform application. This makes it a complement to system flexibility. However, Java’s expertise costs are relatively high. These alternatives illustrate the variety of scripting language alternatives available to the project. Database solutions to the projects include Microsoft SQL and MySQL. Ms SQL supports the storage of large amounts of data in a big number of relations. It incorporates reliable data security and integrity facilities. It also facilitates fast system recovery in the event of failure. This is because it possesses several recovery facilities such as its ability to rollback and roll forward transactions. However, this database application is proprietary. As a result, the adoption of this database application may be compounded by the software’s relatively high costs. MySQL, on the other hand, is free. It also incorporates robust security and integrity features such as views, authentication procedures and constraints. MySQL can run on a wide variety of OS platforms with relative ease. This makes it a popular choice for web applications that require flexibility and scalability. Additionally, MySQL’s custom built storage engines enable the database to meet specific user requirements. MySQL database users also have access to a wide variety of prebuilt data storage engines such as myISAM, InnoDB, Falcon, merge, memecached and solidDB. However, the implementation of MySQL databases is time consuming. This is because MySQL’s limited support for some database features necessitates a lot of user interface coding. These applications present the most viable database facility alternatives for Tony’s Chips system. System design For this project the Red Hat enterprise Linux distribution will be used as the operating system for the company’s server. This is because this operating system is capable of achieving the performance requirements of an enterprise such as Tony’s Chips. It also has a high capability of recovering from system failures (Guise, 2008). This is in addition to its incorporation of security features such as the ability to virtualize applications and integrate native smart cards. Real time monitoring and call frame canary word utilities also provide reliable protection from threats such as hackers. Red hat Linux’s users are eligible to the provision of technical support from the OS vendor. As a result, system implementation and  maintenance is simplified by assistance from vendor technicians. Vendor support is also provided for all Red Hat compatible software. In addition, patches for bugs are released periodically. These patches ensure improvement of systems incorporati ng the OS. As illustrated, red hat represents the ideal server OS platform choice for a company seeking optimal system performance. The project will adopt an Apache web server. This is because Apache provides the most cost effective solution to the performance requirements of Tony’s Chips. In addition, Apache server’s user base is the largest among current web servers. Apache is used on 46% of webs servers worldwide (Hunt John 2011). The source code for Apache is available to its large user base. As a result, Apache users have access to faster resolutions of any bug related issues. Patches to the software are frequently released. These patches improve the server’s performance. For Tony’s Chips, this feature presents an opportunity for constant system improvement. Apache web server will also grant greater flexibility to the system in the event of future change in system requirements. This is because it can operate across multiple platforms such as Windows Server and Linux. Server side scripting for the project will be done through Java. This scripting language will be selected because of the powerful capabilities that it provides to online applications. The use of Java will enable the enterprise to implement complex and distributed web applications in an efficient manner. It will enable the enterprise to reap maximum benefits from e-commerce by enhancing efficiency of the website’s functions. The plug ins needed to run Java web applications on Apache are readily available (MacDonald, 2009). For this reason, Java will integrate well with the Apache web server. Its ability to run on multiple platforms will also ensure that the system is flexible. It will enable achievement of system requirements with relative ease. In addition, it will easily facilitate future system adaptability due to its flexibility. These features are illustrative of why Java is the ideal scripting choice for the project. For the server’s database, a MySQL server will be used. This application will be used because of its ability to cater to Tony’s Chips specific data storage needs through custom storage engines. This represents a big advantage to the company. This is because it will adopt a database that specifically meets all its data storage, retrieval and update requirements. In addition, MySQL is secure and  performance oriented. For instance, the number of transactions handled in MySQL can be increased by grouping transactions from multiple connections. This feature ensures optimal database performance even under heavy work load (Ashenfelter, 1998). MySQL’s bug related performance issues are resolved fast because its source code is available to a large programmer community. The software is also very cost effective because it is free. These features make MySQL the best choice for datab ase implementation in Tony’s Chips’ system. System architecture The system architecture will comprise a database linked to a dynamic website. An apache server will handle user requests. HTML and Java will be used to create the website. These programming languages will enable users to access the system’s services over the internet. Java will also enable transactions between the system and other web applications. These transactions will link the system to facilities such as online payment applications. In this manner, the system will enable online commercial transactions. The Red Hat Linux’s security facilities will be integrated with those of the Apache server and the MySQL database. In doing this, security features will be incorporated at multiple levels of the system. For instance, authentication procedures will be implemented by the operating system as well as the database. The system architecture is illustrated below. Downtime reduction As Tony’s Chips migrates from the external to the internal web server, the amount of downtime can be reduced by ensuring comprehensive preparation for the migration process. Enlisting the webhost’s cooperation for the migration operation is central to a fast and efficient system migration (Gunther, 2006). Before initiating the migration process, all data at the old server should be backed up. The new database should then be set up to ensure that the migration process is not delayed by data transfer. Before migrating, the new database should be tested in order to detect and resolve any performance issues. In order to ensure minimal disruption to the company activities, the system administrator should schedule the system migration for periods with minimal user traffic. In addition, users should be provided with prior notice of the migration operation. This reduces the performance issues that  may arise from users’ attempted access of the system during migration. The change of server IP and domain name should be conducted having performed all the database migration, backup and system testing. Once the new system has been launched, it should be monitored with the aim of detecting any emergent performance issues. Anticipated outcome The system will enable accesses of company services through the website. A use case diagram depicting a customer’s order through the system is shown below. The system will enable Tony’s Chips to engage in e-commerce. Products from the company will be advertised and sold through the website. The system will also provide data warehousing services to Tony’s Chips. This is because data pertaining to online sales will be stored in the system’s database. This data can be analysed by use of data mining tools such as insightful miner. Data mining operations will enable Tony’s Chips to infer critical information from the system’s data cache. In this manner, the system will allow Tony’s Chips to remain competitive. The system will also provide recovery facilities to Tony’s Chips. It will feature facilities such as duplicate databases and journaling facilities that will enable recovery in the event of system failure. In order to ensure system continuity in the event of disaster, duplicate copies of the system will be maintained at different geographical locations. These facilities will ensure that t he system remains operational even if a disaster occurs. Updates to the main system will be duplicated in the backup systems automatically. This will ensure that the system will always be recoverable. The system will also incorporate security facilities for Tony’s Chips data. Multilevel security facilities will be used to enhance the protection of data from unauthorized access. The system will provide transaction information to all the relevant stakeholders. Inbuilt transaction procedures will facilitate automatic provision of transaction information to other online applications. For instance, taxation authorities will receive data on revenues due from the company’s online transactions. These services are expected to be realized from the system’s implementation. Support operations Support operations for the system will include training for users as well as system administrators. As the system is implemented, users and administrators will receive technical training on how to access relevant services. They will also be trained on how to detect and resolve system faults. Customers will have access to an online help facility on the system’s website. Further, support staff will always be available to assist new users. This support will be provided through online chat and telephone communication. Maintenance operations such as software and hardware updates will be performed in accordance with vendors’ recommendations. In addition, any changes to system requirements will be addressed by performing relevant updates. System administrators will be required to constantly analyze the system’s operation. This will enable them to quickly identify and solve any emerging threats or system faults. Training manuals will also be provided to relevant staff. These manuals will enhance familiarity with the system’s operations. These support services and operations will boost the benefits accruing from the system implementation. Project evaluation Evaluation of the project’s success will be performed by performing research to ascertain the system’s impact on Tony’s Chips operations. In doing this, stakeholders such as customers and system administrators will be issued with questionnaires. These data collection tools will seek to determine whether the system is performing as expected. Issues such as the system’s ease of use, data security, user friendliness, and speed will be investigated. Interviews will also be conducted within Tony’s Chips’ community to determine the system’s effects on company operations. Additionally, the system’s journaling facilities will be used to provide performance related information. The findings from this research will be compared with system requirements. This will enable an accurate determination of project outcomes. Conclusion This system plan will provide a guide to the system’s design, implementation and maintenance. It will also enable one to infer the reasoning behind decisions made over the course of the project. Additionally, the plan will enable efficient utilization of resources such as time and money. This project plan can also be used as a guide to understanding the operation of  Tony’s Chips’ new system. Project gantt chart References Ashenfelter, J. P. (1998). Choosing a database for your web site. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. * Guise, P. D. (2008). Enterprise Systems Backup and Recovery: A Corporate Insurance Policy. * Boca Raton, FL: Auerbach Publications. * Gunther, N. J. (2006). Guerrilla Capacity Planning: A Tactical Approach to Planning for Highly * Scalable Applications and Services. New York, NY: Springer. * Hunt, C., John, B. (2011). Java Performance. Trenton, NJ: Prentice Hall. * MacDonald, M. (2009). Creating a web site: The missing manual (2nd edition). New York, NY: * Pogue Press.

Electric Bus as an Environmentally Friendly Form of Public Transport

Electric Bus as an Environmentally Friendly Form of Public Transport Use of Electric buses to improve Environmental performance of bus travel by Sagar Shah Introduction In recent years there is a ton of hype around electrification of cars and which is right for a reason that they contribute a lot to congestion and there is huge amount of emission of major pollutants which has made the urban air quality a big concern. But here’s a less considered fact: Personal vehicles are probably the most challenging to electrify cost-effectively as they just traverse at maximum 4 people over a small distance in a 2-ton vehicle which consumes a lot of energy. The case for electrification or introduction of an alternate fuel is strong for other vehicles & Public Urban Buses top the list. In this paper I will be exploring the implementation of electric buses to improve the environmental performance of Urban bus travel as well I will discuss various considerable points such as cost effectiveness of the electric bus as well as legislations, modifications in the regulations concerning the application of electric bus to the various markets of the world. The paper deals with Battery electric buses which will be referred to as BEBs for the rest of paper. Why Battery electric buses? Buses are the most important mode of transport all over the world when public transport is considered. Buses for long have been used as a main mode of transport for medium to short distance travel and have been the most effective as they go through various routes. In March 2017, there were an estimated 4.93 billion bus passenger journeys in Great Britain which is around 60% of all public transport journeys  (DfT, n.d.)[1]. When talking about greener transport public bus transport are one of the worst contributors to two main contributors to air pollution namely CO2 and NO2. The emission of oxides is a result of fossil fuels used to run the conventional buses. Most of the conventional buses run of diesel. It is found that public transport buses use 40,000 litres a year which is 100 times more than a normal car. They run for 16-18 hr continuously as compared to a car which has a usual use of 2 hrs. For this reason, it is important buses are electrified as soon as possible. Past development and Current scenario For the last two decades there has been large developments in making the electric vehicles a reality. It’s a tough task to design a bus which can continuously work for 16-18 hrs and carrying passengers as much as the conventional bus does. It is a known fact that all over the globe initiatives have been undertaken to introduce electric buses. The first uses of were mostly small, mini or midi-buses. The improvements of battery technology from around 2010 led to the emergence of the battery bus, including heavier units such as twelve-meter standard buses & articulated wagons. Let’s have a look at the history of battery electric bus developments throughout the years. In 2009, Shanghai catenary bus lines began to use battery buses.In September 2010, BYD Auto began manufacturing BYD K9.In 2013, battery buses introduced in Netherlands.In Germany in 2013 battery buses undergoing tests in Bremen and Bonn.The largest bus fleet in Dallan, China included 600 BYD buses.In 2015 BYD launch the first double decker battery buses.Botosani, Romania planned for public transport to operate fully electrically at a conversion cost of 20 million Euros Figure 1: BYD Double decker bus In October 2015, the double decker buses were converted to BYD electrics with a range of 250km. London’s centre city access toll waived off for battery buses[2]  (Wikipedia, 2017). It has been some very successful past years for developers and there is a huge move towards electric bus seen all around the globe. The quality of urban air is deteriorating and with cities growing and urbanisation on the peak it becomes very important to have a clean fleet of buses which can be cost effective and non- polluting at the same time. Transportation Policies London the capital city of the England has for long been the economic hub and has been an example for the world in terms of providing good public transport. The city is very well known for its one of the best public bus services provided to its citizen. In the past few years the air quality levels have been one of the most significant worries for the policy makers. A study by Kings College shows that there are almost 9500 people who die because of the air pollution. The NOx and the PM(2.5) have been the biggest contributors to the air pollution and they are highly emitted by the burning of fossil fuels by vehicles. COx is the biggest contributor to greenhouse effects and they are the largest heat absorbents and have caused a heavy increase in the global temperatures with more and more emission of GHGs. With all these in mind considering the London bus network there has been drastic steps taken to curb down the emissions and go forward towards Zero Emission. Because of which following policies are undertaken The Mayor of London announced a new  £86.1m programme to cut harmful emission from London’s existing bus fleet.Around 5000 buses more than half set to be upgrading to meet the Ultra-Low Euro VI Emissions standards, cutting pollution by up to 95%.The Mayor has also set out in his draft Transport strategy that by 2037 at the latest, all 9200 buses across London will be zero emission.The electric routes are part of major transformation the Mayor has asked TfL to deliver to reduce emissions from London’s bus fleet.One other important policy to clean up the Capital’s bus fleet include the phasing out of diesel only buses& a commitment to purchase only hybrid or zero emission double decker buses from 2018.The introduction of 12 new low emission bus zones, operational by 2020, this will see NOx emissions along routes fall by more than 80%.In March 2017 TfL has introduced the first of 12 low emission zones, where only buses meeting the toughest standards are permitted to run.Using more Electric buses can dissolve the problem of greener transport & congestion. To take a view of what the polices are doing on ground and what people think about the current air quality situation in the city a poll was conducted & designed by YouGov for a sample of 1000 Londoners. (YouGov, 2017). The results of the poll are discussed here: 88% think air pollution is a big problem, with 66% citing air quality as bad and 72% wanted more stringent actions to curb air pollutions.[3] This shows that even after the polices being so hard people are still concerned more about the quality of air they breathe in when on streets of London. As from all of this it is quite evident that the best bus network in the world has outlined large number of policies & taken giant strides towards making buses run by electric batteries. A lot of potential is seen in the much anticipated zero emission buses to take over and make the city a place to breathe freely in near future. Key benefits of Battery electric Buses(BEB’s): Electric battery buses bring with them lots of benefits. Most important of them are the environmental benefits which will be talked more about later in this paper. Following can be listed down as the major benefits: Air quality improvement   This will happen largely because of the zero tailpipe emissions from the BEB’s. The levels of COx and NOx in the air are quite worrying in certain cities which is predominantly around the city centre. BEB’s work on the principle of zero tail pipe emission this should create a better ambient air quality for citizens. Noise Pollution reduction   Electric buses are very quiet in operation and can be a big advantage in urban areas to reduce noise pollution when compared to highly noisy diesel engine buses. If we consider a peak hour rush in a urban street with lots of vehicles, electric buses would contribute zero to noise levels as they can be near to perfect quite when in operation. Journey Comfort   Electric buses have been told to be very comfortable while on the move with passengers as it reduces the jerks due to braking as it uses regenerative braking. The buses have a lot more space when compared to diesel bus as they don’t have to be equipped with heavy engines and other mechanical parts. The buses are much lower to the ground and can also be a aid to disable people as it is very easy to get on and off the bus Maintenance cost Savings   Due to very low mechanical instruments needed for the propagation the wear and tear is heavily reduced which can save a lot of money over the lifetime of the bus when compared to conventional diesel buses. Drawbacks Range For a large period, there has been a great enthusiasm towards making public buses run on battery electric buses, but the hindrance is that buses need to run 16-18 hrs continuously & there need to be enough power in them to run all day long, but the range of the buses is limited &0 can only run on smaller routes & not many double decker buses are operational till date. Most of the buses are charged overnight and take almost 3-5 hrs to charge fully and run for the whole day. Heavy weight To power a large vehicle like the bus there needs to be a large battery pack inside the bus. The most famous BYD auto designed K9 with a huge 345 kwh battery. The energy density is just near 100wh/Kg which means the battery pack itself will be 3.5 tons. (Independent, 2016) High initial costs The cost of Conventional diesel buses is almost the half of the BEB’s. This factor for a big span of time made BEB’s not feasible. But with high research and development and a great downfall in the price of the batteries for buses has somewhat narrowed the gap between the ownership costs of the BEB’s and Conventional diesel buses. In future with more and more investment in the research we can expect to see more drop in the price for electric buses and it can be said that they will be more affordable by more markets. Battery replacement costs Batteries are the most important component of the BEB’s. Cost of the replacement of batteries can be a very daunting factor when economic viability is considered for the electric buses. As the costs of battery pack are very high and the size needed for the bus is a huge one so can almost result in somewhere around  £20k after a span of 6-7year depending on the manufacturers. But recently many companies have claimed to make this cost diminished as the give a 12-year warranty of battery packs included in the bus and which can be considered as the average life span of a bus. Infrastructure Re-Development A shift from one technology to another can prove to be a very hard process. Electric buses would need charging docks for the buses to charge overnight. This will need significant amount of money and it will add up to the city’s electric demand. Research in Battery Success or failure of zero emission buses largely depend on the success of the batteries used for electric buses. The reports on the highly hyped London electric double decker bus which is manufactured by the ALD & BYD as a joint venture which has the technological input form BYD, which is world’s pioneer in BEB’s.  (TFl, 2017) This BEB’s uses as 345kwh battery pack. BYD for long has specialised in a type of Lithium battery called Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4). It is reported to have an energy density of just around 100wh/Kg. So, this battery pack will weigh a tremendous 3.5 tons before any packaging, interconnects, cabling or BMS are considered so a weight of 4 tons is more likely. The other drawback of LFP type batteries is its abilities to take & release charge. Now, to make the battery much more light and efficient developments can be made in the direction of changing the materials used in the batteries. For example, Tesla using lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminium(NCA) the P90D model S has a 90 Kwh battery pack which has an energy density of 140wh/kg. Definitely this was for a car, but such developments must be made, and a lot can be achieved in the electric drive technology of the electric buses. Economically Feasible The idea of battery electric bus is viable or nor largely depends on its economic feasibility. Any new technology at its advent is expensive & is not affordable by all. For example, when smartphones started to roll out they were priced highly when compared to the conventional mobile phones. But with heavy investment in research & development & also large competition around the globe to consumer markets the prices have come down & the market has reached to a new pinnacle every year. Figure 2 Drop in Battery Prices over the last decade and future projections Battery electric buses can also be considered more as an electronic entity rather than an automobile with more and more research & the urge to go green on immediate basis will see a large variation in the current buses & the buses to roll out in next 10 years. Figure 3 Citi research Li batteries price drop. As shown is the figure it is quite evident that due to heavy turnaround towards electric vehicles there has been a drop of 80% in the price of the main component of BEB’s battery packs. Prices have dropped yet the initial cost is very high to own a battery electric bus having a range of 250 miles. With the change in technology there will be a need to improve the infrastructure. This can add to the overall cost in bringing more BEB’s to the roads pertaining the charging technology adopted, and the nature of change needed. Going forward it becomes necessary to study the feasibility of BEB’s to make the electric buses accepted very firmly. Transportation economy vary quite too much in every part of the world largely because of the different application of bus transport in every urban city. Table 1 Diesel V/s Hybrid V/s BEB’s Table1 shows the cost benefit analysis which compares the Diesel Conventional Buses V/s Hybrid diesel buses and BEB’s. The data has been collected from TfL statistics for bus and other articles related to bus transport in London. There is a fleet of 9549 buses in London[4]  (TFl, 2017) which comprises of all the three variants included in the analysis. The assumption here made is use of entire fleet as each type. From TfL report on Bus performance 16/17 it is found that on average bus travels 35600 miles a year. This data has been made a standard and remains the same for each variant throughout the analysis. The BEB considered here is the BYD double decker bus currently deployed on the route 98. The bus packs a 100Kwh/hr battery pack which uses slow charging to charge overnights at the Willesden bus depot and takes about 3-4 hrs to charge fully.[5]  (Metroline, n.d.) The main aim was to find out the Overall operating cost of all the vehicles and compare them. As shown in the table the cost for the off-peak charging has been assumed as 0.10p/kw, this charge can vary according to various boroughs and different factors. On average bus travels 100 miles per day and price for operation on each day is calculated as  £4/day so which breaks down to 0.4p /mile. Now we also know that the BEB’s usually have replacement battery due every 6-7 years. But for this case the Buses provided by BYD has a warranty of 12years which is almost the lifetime for a bus. So, no maintenance cost is considered in the analysis of costs for BEB’s. For BEB’s it can be considered that there will be a need for new infrastructure development which may cause a rise in the overall cost for the BEB’s. As we don’t have any figure for the development of charging docks it is also not considered for the analysis. The charging dock once developed can be used by many buses at the same time and would last for several years without any maintenance need. Figure 4 Cost comparison of all vehicles. Figure 5 Cost over Life span Following are the outcomes of the analysis: Ownership cost is almost double for BEB’s when compared to Conventional diesel buses but when compared to hybrid diesel vehicle there is a very skew difference in their ownership costs. This is largely attributed to high price rate of battery packs used in BEB.Operating costs of the vehicles show large variations as the cost for electricity is much low as compared to the cost of diesel. A single BEB can save up to approx.  £42,000 which is almost the annual operating cost of a diesel hybrid bus. This means if the whole fleet is converted to BEB there can be tremendous savings on operational cost of public transport buses. Diesel and hybrid diesel buses also show a considerable difference but nowhere near BEB.Maintenance cost as shown in the table for BEBs are almost negligible as due to absence of mechanical spare parts the wear and tear would not happen. When talking about maintenance battery replacement cost if any should be considered but in the considered case it is zero as the manufacturer has provide a warranty of 12 years for the battery pack provide in the double decker bus.  Total cost per annum is the addition of ownership cost + operational costs which in the initial years is high for the BEB. This due to large investment needed at the time of procurement.The fig 5 shows the overall cost of operation over 12 years of life time, which shows that BEBs are highly efficient over the long term. Even if the battery is to be changed it could be adjusted in the same budget as for the hybrid diesel buses. The graph clearly suggest that it is extremely efficient to use BEB and can save around 350k over a life time when compared to a conventional diesel or hybrid diesel bus. For a whole fleet to be changed is somewhat hypothetical in near future but in his vision for buses Mayor of London suggested to only uses BEB by latest 2037. This means there can be billions in savings overtime if the project is successfully completed.Apart from this the most important benefit would be Zero-tailpipe emission from BEBs which can effectively and immediately improve the urban air quality and in turn save millions of pounds spent on health care and other projects to eliminate the effect of greenhouse gases. More about this will be discussed in Environmental impacts of BEB’s. Thus, it can be said that currently the BEB’s are more profitable if they provide the needed range of usage and the cost benefit analysis proves and supports the implementation of electric battery buses immediately. Legislation and Regulations With advent of new technologies arrives the need to amend the legislations already present or design new legislations and regulations. It is very important that legislations for BEB’s are shaped at every level of governance and implemented. Following are the policies that can be made at different levels to incorporate and encourage the use of battery electric batteries. International Organisations Greenhouse effect is a global problem and pollution caused anywhere would affect people everywhere, this should be kept in mind by each organisation. Emission of GHGs is a serious problem in big cities of every countries. Now to reduce it most of the countries in UN should stay committed to save our planet earth from getting destroyed and there should be steps which are mandatory for any member in a big organisation such as UN or EU. Any violations must be severely dealt with and provisions of sanctions or penalties must be made, this is because air pollution is not only causing deaths to humans who breathe toxic pollutants, but it also is posing a severe threat if the situations like now persists. Following are some important measures or directives which global organisation must lay out: Maximum permissible emission levels must be set out for each country and no discriminations should be made between developing and a developed country. China accounts for 23% of global greenhouse emissions[6]  (Worldatlas, 2015) all over the world. Paris agreement COP 21 was signed by most of the world’s biggest countries. US opted out of it as they would not be able to meet the levels set which should not be the case. Bigger economies must stand as an example and cut down of GHGs. More and more deals must be made out on global level and the progress on it must be reviewed time by time to ensure its successful implementation. National level Once the global agendas are set the countries on a national level should segregate different policies for different sectors which can be used by regulatory bodies and other industries and institutions to comply with the goals set to meet the global agendas. For BEB’s England has been very proactive in the Europe and recently became the world’s first to use a double decker BEB. China on the other hand has the largest market for BEB’s and has successfully managed to incorporate them in public transport in various cities. These countries policies can be set as an example for other countries. Following legislations can be drawn from their policies: London has decided to only procure Hybrid buses or zero emission from 2018 and to only have zero emission buses by 2037.  (TFl, 2017)Application of Ultra low Emission Zone(ULEZ) is done with dense traffic and higher Volume of COx and particulate matter in the air PM(2.5).  (TFl, 2017)Buses that comply to the most stringent norms of Euro VI are only allowed on the streets.  (TFl, 2017)For china the have provided bus manufactures with attractive subsidies which has in turn made them the pioneer in these industries.Infrastructure development for BEB’s must be supported by government programmes.Efforts must be made, and more funds should be allocated for research in the technology of BEB’s. New ideas such as Solar charging docks which makes use of renewable energy sources must be encouraged so that BEB’s leave minimum carbon footprint. Industrial It is important that the manufacturers keep in mind the emission levels and design the vehicles as per the norms. More Bus operators should try and incorporate BEB’s and fulfil their social responsibility. Consumer perception BEB’s have zero tailpipe emissions so they would not be throwing black smoke right into urbanites faces. Diesel smoke is a big contributor to 6.5 million deaths a year due to air pollution. This should notably mean that use of BEB’s virtually means no emission of greenhouse gases or air pollutants. The electricity from power plants generated may still emit those pollutants, but even if it is powered by coal plants, a BEB would average far less pollution per-mile than a diesel bus. Electric buses are much, much nicer experience- lower to the ground, much more space (diesel engines take a lot of space), no diesel burning smell & no noise. If the battery costs are brought down & with already low operational costs the total cost of running a bus can be brought to half that of a diesel bus. These advantages when passed to community would mean less money to travel on bus. BEBs can have positive social impacts as far as its application is considered in urban areas. Air pollution and noise pollution in urban areas have been associated in a lot of studies across the globe. BEBs can also end up reducing stress levels. Environmental Impacts Air quality As we know currently most of the fleet of buses run on conventional diesel ICE engine. ICE engine is most popular but by burning fossil fuels this are the several side effects of diesel buses. Apart from this use of fossil fuels is at a peak & its price are also increasing day by day with increase in demand. Figure 6 Oil demands   The figure shows that we will shortly be running out of fossil fuels. The use of vehicles is increasing every year around the globe and the demand is set to overcast the supply within next few years. BEBs will help ensure we have an alternative to run our buses. Air quality around the world has been in a grave condition for the past few years. BEBs are technology which will help us provide freedom from the emission which is caused by burning of fossil fuels. Diesel conventional buses use up to 100 times more diesel annually when compared to a diesel car. Currently the situation is so bad that a reputed daily guardian published an article which headlined- ‘Revealed- Every Londoner breathing dangerous level of toxic air particle.’  (Taylor, 2017) The article highlighted the seriousness of air quality problem that we are facing. The article stated that almost 95% of the capital’s population live in the rea that are exposed to high level of particulate matter in the air. [7] Figure 7 Particulate matter levels (Guardian) As the chart suggest the annual levels of PM2.5 are severely high in and around the city of London. The situation is much worse when we the levels are examined for central London. It is almost double the acceptable limits suggested by WHO. BEBs when come into action will run through the streets of the London but with zero tailpipe emission it is certain that this level will drop certainly and suddenly. This particulate matter can be described as something as toxic a drop of tar which will go down directly to the lungs and then to bloodstreams. This very fine particulate matter can be a reason for strokes and heart attacks.  (Taylor, 2017) The other major pollutant is Nitrogen oxides which is also produced in our ambience, a pollutant which inflames the lungs, stunting their growth & increasing the risk of respiratory diseases like asthma & lung cancer. London has one of the most acute problem across the world.[8] Figure 8 NO2 Levels London The figure shows how worse is the condition about nitrogen dioxide in central London. It was reported that Putney High street managed to break its annual emission limits in just eight days in 2016. The areas of Knightsbridge, Oxford street, Earl’s court & Brixton following the suit before the end of the first month. Government estimates 23000 people to die pre-maturely from nitrogen oxide pollution. (Taylor, 2017) Policies Several policies are designed to maximize the use of BEBs in London. Some policies have had a great impact in reducing the pollution from the city while some have not shown any effects. One such policy was to declare Ultra low emission zones in the city where the vehicles meeting the highest standards are only allowed to enter. But if we consider the scale of the policy it only secures about 300,000 citizens while ignoring the overall of 3 million which are affected by the atrocities of air pollution. The auto industry has for long tried and developed the vehicles which emit lowest NOx but have always failed. They have by lobbying tried to have their bread and butter secure by keeping on doing the wrong things to the environment. The norms have been manipulated and it is best said that power is in money. The recently published EU limits have been an example of this, Netherlands being the only country to oppose the limits. The limits are set such that it allows manufactures could design for up to double the acceptable limits by the WHO.[9] (nelson, 2015)The powerful should understand that the need is not to run from the problem but face it head on and take bolder steps. Technology of BEB must be accepted by European manufactures. 60 years ago, there was a ban on coal a similar ban is needed for diesel at least for urban vehicles and specially for public transport. Dark side The BEBs run on electric and are zero-tailpipe emitting vehicles but are they greenest option available for transport in urban areas? Answer can be maybe no as the electricity used to charge the batteries of BEBs come from the burning of coal ion a thermal power plant. It can be made the greenest if options are found to make it run on renewable sources of energy. Most of the electricity in UK comes from coal which is also a fuel which also produces lots of carbon oxides and nitrogen oxides when combusted. Unless the electricity coming to our grid is not by burning hydrocarbons there will be a huge carbon footprint for any fully electric vehicle. But when a comparison is to be done burning a fuel in industry would be much more efficient that burning it on streets in different engines. Other hazard can be of battery disposal after its use. BEBs posses a large battery pack. Technology to recycle them must be developed so that they don’t cause any hazard to environment. Most of the batteries are thrown away & are used as landfill in various areas, these will eventually degrade the soil & cause damage to vegetation also.   It is important that BEB should be developed in such a way that they should be 100% green and environment friendly from well to wheel. This technology is developed as we developed ICEs without assessing its impact on the environment. Cost might be a barrier but compromising now could mean serious consequences. BEBs can incorporate Other technologies Buses in cities run over a fixed route and have a dedicated lane in certain cities. A lot of research is put in developing an autonomous car, the same technology can be used in buses with much lesser hindrance as it would not have any other traffic on its way. Autonomous electric bus can take out one of the largest cost that bus operators incur and that is labour cost. This can make bus travel highly safe and cheaper in future with much more accuracy to run on schedules. Apart from autonomous drive use of renewable sources can be done to produce electricity for the charging of BEB at the charging docks. Use of solar energy to generate electricity and can be stored in storage cells and then used to charge the batteries of the buses. This can cut down carbon footprint to a very low level.   Such technologies could make BEBs much more efficient and prove to be a game changer in the public transport sector. Conclusion The idea of BEB has a clear future. It can prove to be the game-changer to save the depleting air qualities in the cities and provide a boost towards achieving a greener environment by cutting down the wasted fuel in congestion, providing more greener space & by removing the deadliest diesel ICE in our cities. Implementing BEBs can not only be economically providing a country with savings of hundreds of thousands of pounds on each bus but also serve good to its citizens health by saving them from life-threatening diseases which could be rampant because of air pollution. There ought to be a lot of challenges along the path of revolution, but such has been the case with all technological revolutions, and they’ve been dealt with before and I am sure BEBs in near future will take over the market as the first choice for public transport buses all over the globe. References Anon., n.d. Bus travel statistics, London: Department of transport. Bloomberg, n.d. s.l.: s.n. Independent, 2016. 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